"If you want to kill an app you dont have to. We architected something so the user doesnt have to be the custodian of applications. Well give the apps in the foreground as needed. The user doesnt have to worry about that at all. The user just uses things.

In multitasking, if you see a task manager, they blew it. Users shouldnt have to ever, ever, ever think about that stuff."

I read his response and kind of wondered the same thing. I think its one of those things that we will have to wait and see. I'm sure once the developers get their beta versions we will hear more about it.

When I read what they were doing with multitasking I don't think it is true mutlitasking at all. There are going to be a few apple apis that your updated app is going to be able to use. When you close your app the app can feed information thru the api to you. Its just a fancier version of push.

With the inclusion of better save states you'll be harder pressed to know whether multitasking is actually working or not.

Hense you don't need to close any app as there is no app to close. Because there is no real 3rd party multitasking in the first place.

It'll probably work like Safari. You know how it keeps 8 pages open? But if you run out of RAM it 'loses' the oldest pages and they have to re-load when you go back to them?

I bet the multitasking will keep the last few apps you used running, but if it needs to it'll just 'freeze' the app that's 5 or 6 down the line. The number will depend on how much of the resources your apps are using.

So some peole will get 8 apps running at once but some will only get 3 if they're really big things. Bottom line is, you don't have to worry about it.

It's not a multitasking bar. It's just an app switcher. Third party apps don't run in the background. The 7 services that Apple listed run in the background, and are available for third party apps to tie into.

When I read what they were doing with multitasking I don't think it is true mutlitasking at all. There are going to be a few apple apis that your updated app is going to be able to use. When you close your app the app can feed information thru the api to you. Its just a fancier version of push.

With the inclusion of better save states you'll be harder pressed to know whether multitasking is actually working or not.

Hense you don't need to close any app as there is no app to close. Because there is no real 3rd party multitasking in the first place.

Thats what I got out of it anyways...

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This is correct. The entire application does not continue running, only the relavent APIs that allow whatever the app's core background functionality is to continue. So Pandora (as an app) is put into a save state, but its audio API is allowed to keep running so you still get the audio.

The apps state is remembered automatically, it's not actually running in the background.

Obviously if your pandora radio is playing in the background, to quit the app you'd just go back to pandora and hit pause/stop.

If something is tracking your location, you'd just go back to the app and tell it to stop tracking.

It's not "true multitasking" because it seems like some things are still going to be impossible - you can't receive a notification from an IM client while it's running in the background for example, you'd still have to rely on push notifications for that.

It's not a multitasking bar. It's just an app switcher. Third party apps don't run in the background. The 7 services that Apple listed run in the background, and are available for third party apps to tie into.

It's not a multitasking bar. It's just an app switcher. Third party apps don't run in the background. The 7 services that Apple listed run in the background, and are available for third party apps to tie into.

Click to expand...

Yes, but I think it's fair to just label the 7 APIs as "multitasking."

My entire post is talking about those APIs and the fact that it's the APIs that will either keep or 'freeze' services depending on how busy they are.

But I think it's just a lot easier to say 'multitasking' to refer to all that.

When I read what they were doing with multitasking I don't think it is true mutlitasking at all. There are going to be a few apple apis that your updated app is going to be able to use. When you close your app the app can feed information thru the api to you. Its just a fancier version of push.

With the inclusion of better save states you'll be harder pressed to know whether multitasking is actually working or not.

Hense you don't need to close any app as there is no app to close.

Click to expand...

Ugh, I hope not. What a swing and a miss.

Some apps are best if they don't save state.

Take the settings app, for example. Suppose the last time you went into settings it was to check your usage. You exit the app right from the usage screen. Somewhere down the line, you want to turn off WiFi. When you launch settings, you don't want to be back at the usage screen, making your have to navigate all the way back to the top of the hierarchy.

On the other hand, what if you are in the middle of setting up an email account and have to cross reference all your account information with Safari (ingoing/outgoing server info, port settings, account info)? In that case, you don't want to start at the beginning screen each time and lose your place.

Take the USAToday app. When you launch the app, it always starts at the front page so you can see all the updated news for the day. You don't want to have to navigate backwards each time from when you last quit the app within an article from three days ago.

But then again, what if you want to look up something from a story in Safari? You want to get back to your place in the article when you return.

Take the settings app, for example. Suppose the last time you went into settings it was to check your usage. You exit the app right from the usage screen. Somewhere down the line, you want to turn off WiFi. When you launch settings, you don't want to be back at the usage screen, making your have to navigate all the way back to the top of the hierarchy.

On the other hand, what if you are in the middle of setting up an email account and have to cross reference all your account information with Safari (ingoing/outgoing server info, port settings, account info)? In that case, you don't want to start at the beginning screen each time and lose your place.

Take the USAToday app. When you launch the app, it always starts at the front page so you can see all the updated news for the day. You don't want to have to navigate backwards each time from when you last quit the app within an article from three days ago.

But then again, what if you want to look up something from a story in Safari? You want to get back to your place in the article when you return.

I don't think Apple gets it.

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A simple way to get around that would be to single tap an app you want to run from its saved state, then double tap or push and hold an app you want to run from its home page.

Whether or not they've thought about that, I don't know, but they'll probably address it in an update. I think most people would rather have a slightly annoying implementation than one that saps battery life.

It's not a myth. It's just often used in hyperbole. Controlled multitasking (either by the system or the user) may have limited impact on battery life. Out of control multitasking can kill battery life.

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